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View Winners → New Year Ahead
Arcadia Weekly Dec 31, 2014
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The start of a new year is a perfect time to commit to actions that will positively impact you and your team. Here are six resolutions to get you started.
1. Acknowledge the Good Work of Others: Most managers only give feedback when things are going poorly or exceptionally well. Be a standout manager by regularly acknowledging the good work of your employees. Praise is a big motivator that drives productivity and commitment. Make it a priority to compliment at least one of your employees each day for their good work. Be specific by saying, “Jim, your solution to our inventory problem meant we filled our customer orders instead of putting people on a wait-list. Good work.”
2. Listen, Listen, Listen: Managers tread in dangerous territory when they tend to talk more than listen to their employees. When an employee feels listened to they feel valued. When an employee feels valued they work hard and this translates into bottom-line results. So the art and skill of effective listening pays off with happier employees and tangible business outcomes.
3. Set Clear Goals: A road map of clear goals makes it easy for you and your team to stay on track and remain focused on what’s most important. Try this exercise: To identify goals for 2015 pretend that it’s now January 1, 2016 and ask yourself, “What made 2015 a successful year?” Based upon your answer formulate clear, tangible goals and share them with your team. Better yet, have your team do the very same exercise. Then listen to what they see as making 2015 successful. Blend together their ideas and yours to formulate goals for the new year.
4. Delegate More: Lots of managers tend to hold onto projects but this is a lose-lose situation for them and their employees. When managers don’t delegate they lose out on balancing their workload and their employees lose out on new challenges. When you delegate you’re able to focus on new, novel and innovative projects that propel the organization forward. Delegating also allows your employees to spread their wings and develop their skills. Delegating conveys your trust in them which is paramount to employee satisfaction.
5. Professional Development: It’s important that both you and your employees continually grow and develop professionally. Join a professional association, take a training class, attend a conference, find a mentor, read a book or watch a TED Talk. In the workplace itself employees can also grow professionally from cross-training opportunities, stretch assignments and on-the-job training. Meet with each of your employees to find out how they’d like to grow professionally and then collaboratively find an avenue to achieve it.
6. Be Grateful: Appreciate all that you have – your colleagues, friends, family, a job and a place to live. Be grateful for what makes your life enjoyable. Each day take a moment to pause in gratitude.
Make 2015 a great year for you and your employees.
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Heather Backstrom is an executive coach, leadership development consultant and speaker. She has a doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University. She can be reached at www.heatherbackstrom.com
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